Remembering Marshall Brain, Founder of HowStuffWorks

Marshall Brain II was born in Santa Monica, California, on May 17, 1961. Brain's father worked in the aerospace industry, creating components for moon rockets, inspiring his son's lifelong fascination with technology.

Brain received a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, and a master of science degree in computer science from North Carolina State University (NCSU).

He taught in the computer science division at NCSU from 1986 until 1992. Brain also created a computer consulting firm and wrote several programming manuals in the 1990s.

In 1998, Brain created HowStuffWorks.com. The website, which Brain started as a hobby, provided easy-to-understand explanations of the workings on a wide range of concepts, terminology and mechanisms — everything from easy household repairs to how submarines work — which provided Brain with a limitless creative project.

"I wanted to do something incremental, and write these articles without writing a book," Brain said during an interview on the "Friendly Atheist" podcast. "The first [article] was about how car engines work, and I put it out and no one cared. It wasn't until I put out about 20 of them that anybody cared. And then it started to become popular. It turns out that there are millions of people who are interested in how things work and [the website] kind of caught that vibe."

HowStuffWorks quickly grew in its scope, and Brain said it became the number one site for "thousands and thousands entries," thanks to links from Google and other search engines.

"The internet was a new place, and people found [HowStuffWorks.com] and it was the right place at the right time," said Brain. "The way search engines work, there are a zillion links into it. That is like a legacy that it will have forever."

In 2002, Brain sold HowStuffWorks to the ConvexGroup, an Atlanta-based investment group created by the founder of WebMD. In 2007, Discovery Communications purchased HowStuffWorks for $250 million.

The success of HowStuffWorks made Brain a popular guest on a range of media platforms, including "The Oprah Winfrey Show," "Good Morning America" and "CNN."

TV Series

Following the sale of HowStuffWorks, Brain hosted two television programs on the National Geographic Channel.

"Factory Floor with Marshall Brain" and "Who Knew? with Marshall Brain" examined the way mass-produced products are conceived, designed and manufactured. Tennis balls, beer and other products received detailed coverage on the shows.

Novels and Nonfiction

Brain wrote more than a dozen books outside of the HowStuffWorks brand.

Publishing as a Parent

A devoted parent, Brain published books from that perspective. His 2013 e-book, "50 Things That Can Kill Your Child and How To Avoid All of Them" addresses the dangers that children face — swallowing an extra-strength Tylenol or a cigarette butt off the sidewalk — and informs readers about keeping children safe.

The 1997 book "The Teenager's Guide to the Real World" looks at the choices young people make that may affect them for their entire lives and offers advice to parents about guiding their kids through these formative years. The book has gone through 10 printings and was selected by the New York Public Library's "Books for the Teen Age" list.

Some of Brain's most provocative work inspired his writing about religion and the existence of supernatural powers. A devout atheist, Brain published the book "How 'God' Works: A Logical Inquiry on Faith" in 2015 to challenge the debate about the existence of a higher power.

"How 'God' Works" followed the attention Brain received from his website, Why Won't God Heal Amputees?, which asked readers to contemplate whether God is real or imaginary, if prayer really works, and examined how religion works around the world. Brain was pleased that his work inspired countless online debates about the existence of God, after the publication of his free website.

Brain also gave impassioned TED Talks about topics including the inevitable impacts of global warming and the meaning of life. In the latter discussion, Brain summarized his idealism for the human race:

In 2012-2024, Brain was the director of the Engineering Entrepreneurs Program at North Carolina State University. The program did not focus on website or app development, but encouraged engineering students to produce and promote inventions that might change the world and then promote them to as large an audience as possible.

One invention that came from the project was the Undercover Colors product, a line of nail polishes that can be dipped into a drink to see if the beverage has been contaminated with date rape drugs.

Brain's death by suicide on November 20, 2024, occurred just hours after he sent a lengthy email to friends and colleagues at North Carolina State University.

Brain was responding to a recent announcement by the school that he was retiring at the end of the year. Brain claimed that he was being forced out by the powers that be after he had reported wrongdoing, and that he was terminated by the college on October 29, 2024.

Hours after he sent the email, Brain's wife requested a welfare check, and campus police found Brain unresponsive in his office.

A memorial service was held on December 8, and dozens of former students and colleagues have posted emotional messages in an online obituary for Brain. A post on the North Carolina State University website included messages from longtime colleagues.

"Marshall had a unique gift for explaining complicated theories and devices in ways that anyone could understand," said Louis Martin-Vega, Dean Emeritus, North Carolina State University College of Engineering. "He was an incredible teacher and mentor who inspired so many students to think outside the box and to believe in their ideas and entrepreneurial abilities."

Tom Miller, founder of the Engineering Entrepreneurs Program and a Distinguished Professor Emeritus, memorialized Brain as well: